S-Sorry?
Why were you apologizing to me?
Hearing Hokoma's words, Chiba froze for a moment, then abruptly looked at Hokoma, his face full of confusion.
Originally, he had been wondering what Hokoma wanted to say. Since Hokoma had suddenly asked to speak with him alone, Chiba was naturally quite curious. Still, he roughly knew what Hokoma might say. He had assumed it would basically be some insights about being an assistant, or perhaps a warning to properly support Minato Namikaze.
The two of them were not close. Their only common ground was probably this.
After all, they were both Hokage Assistants.
Moreover, Chiba was still immersed in the difference between Minato Namikaze and his impression from the original story, so he had not given it much thought.
But he had never expected Hokoma to apologize to him.
And he could not think of anything Hokoma had done to wrong him. On the contrary, Hokoma had been among the first people to treat him kindly, so Chiba had a fairly good impression of him. An apology was entirely unnecessary.
"Um... Senior Hokoma, what is this?"
After a string of doubts flashed through his mind, Chiba straightened up and asked in confusion.
"No. At first, I misunderstood you deeply as well. Just like those people who despised and looked down on you. If the Third Hokage had not awakened me to the truth, perhaps I would have done something to hurt you."
Hokoma shook his head and spoke sincerely.
"Th-That was all in the past."
Chiba hesitated before replying.
To be honest, Chiba had never cared about what others thought of him. He was not the sort of person who would cry to the heavens or bear a grudge over a single disdainful look, nor was he someone who lost all self-respect